Airports, Airlines, Aviation

United E145 IAH-LFT Flight Review


Melinda GrossA few months back, Melinda reviewed the Calgary International Airport (YYC), as well as her United YYC-IAH flight and the Houston Airport. Melinda is a self-described epitome of the reality side of ‘expectation vs reality’ in business travel. You’ll find her taking steerage class cabins to exotic locales like Elliot Lake, ON and Elko, NV, chasing her company’s aerial survey aircraft! You can check out more about Melinda on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter @melindadgross. This is her final blog in her trilogy, where she’ll take a look at a United Express flight and the LFT Airport (Lafayette).

Here’s Melinda!

United E145 IAH-LFT Flight Review

Did I mention I love the shorter queue and boarding time of the small planes? We boarded United E145 so fast that we could have departed early if everyone was on board (I’ve been that person dashing across the airport to catch the flight so I am very much okay with waiting!).

The seats felt inclined somehow, like I was leaning forward, but once airborne, they did recline (much to the chagrin of all, I bet) and things felt more comfortable on-board United E145. My 5’11” frame left me eye-level with the top of the window, so I was also hunching to see out, but as with my last flight there’s still a couple of inches of leg room easily. I must have a disproportionate thigh-to-calf ratio, because despite my lengthy inseam I have never had the knee-contact issues on an aircraft that I’ve read horror stories about.

Similarly, I give this United E145 flight a C. The United E145 aircraft was a little older but otherwise the same service as my previous United flight. Not anything spectacular to set it above the rest, but nothing wrong either.

Some feedback for United E145 – United’s claims for fleetwide onboard Wi-Fi need to either specify only the big planes, or pony up for all the Express jets.

LFTAirportLFT Airport after my United E145 flight

Lafayette Regional Airport (LFT) has the quaintness of a small airport, but all the accessibility and most of the amenities of a big one, without the hassles that come along with it. You have the big three airlines (American, Delta, United), all the major car rental companies, conference rooms, free Wi-Fi, and soon a tap house will join the little coffee & convenience shop. There’s ample parking outside with curbside loading, a 30 minute free parking area, and there’s a designated smoking and service dog relief area. Inside is well laid out and easy and intuitive to navigate. A spacious and bright atrium opens above with some unique local art on display.

You’ll want to hit the washroom before TSA, but there’s ample vending machines afterwards to restock those liquids. Some other little perks are recycling facilities, the bathrooms are updated and clean, the air conditioning is a blessing, and the on-site tourism booth has lots of pamphlets you can grab even if a rep is not present. I collected several for local eateries while my co-worker took advantage of the free Wi-Fi to search for the car rental confirmation – which, hilariously turned out to be a jam of the month club subscription. Needless to say we made use of one of the many hotel shuttles that were a free call away, and came back the next morning.

Overall our trip was a success this day; we made it to our destination on time, and ever-increasing available connectivity makes the time go by productively.


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